Did Jesus Go to Hell?
Among the many confessions of the Christian Church, few statements have caused more theological debate than the clause in the Apostles’ Creed that declares of Jesus Christ, “he descended into hell.” This line, added centuries after the earliest versions of the Creed, provokes the question: Did Jesus truly go to hell? What does Scripture say about where Jesus went between his crucifixion and resurrection? The purpose of this article is to examine this question carefully, using both Old and New Testament evidence, and to distinguish biblical revelation from later theological or linguistic confusion.
The Hebrew Background: Sheol, Not “Hell”
In the Hebrew Old Testament, the word most often translated “hell” in older English Bibles, such as the King James Version, is Sheol. This term does not refer to the modern conception of “hell” as a place of fiery torment for the wicked; rather, it denotes the realm of the dead–the grave, the place where all souls go upon death. King David wrote, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption” (Psalm 16:10). This psalm, later cited by Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:27), prophetically describes the resurrection of the Messiah: God would not leave his Son among the dead.
Sheol, therefore, encompasses both the resting place of the righteous and the confinement of the wicked, distinguished later by terms such as Paradise and Gehenna. The righteous hoped for deliverance from Sheol, as Psalm 49:15 declares: “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” Thus, when early Christians proclaimed that Jesus “descended,” they were affirming his full participation in human death–that he truly entered the realm of the dead–and not that he suffered torment in the hell of the damned.
The Use of “Hades” in the New Testament
When the Hebrew Sheol was translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the word Hades was used. Like Sheol, it refers broadly to the unseen realm of the dead. In Acts 2:31, Peter teaches that David, “being therefore a prophet,” foresaw that “he [Christ] was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.” The apostle saw Psalm 16 as a prophecy of Christ’s bodily resurrection. Jesus did, indeed, descend to Hades in the sense that he died and his soul entered the place of the departed, but he was not left there.
It is crucial to note that Hades in this context does not refer to Gehenna–the “lake of fire” reserved for final judgment (Revelation 20:14-15). The hell of eternal torment, where “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48), is a distinct concept. Thus, whatever Jesus experienced, it was not punishment but triumph.
“He Descended into Hell”: The Apostolic Witness
Although the Apostles’ Creed employs the English word “hell,” the theological meaning intended by the phrase “he descended into hell” is not that Jesus suffered further torment. Rather, it points to the reality that Jesus truly tasted human death–he experienced the full consequence of sin, which is separation of body and soul–and that his death was real, not symbolic.
Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:22-32 provides the earliest apostolic interpretation of Psalm 16. Peter explicitly declares that David’s tomb remained occupied, but that Jesus’ body “was not abandoned to Hades.” By this declaration, Peter establishes that God raised Jesus from the realm of the dead. The passage, therefore, speaks not of a descent into punitive fire but of a deliverance from death’s domain.
This interpretive distinction is echoed by Paul in Romans 10:7, when he asks rhetorically, “Who will descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” The “abyss” here parallels the “depths” of death, not Gehenna’s flames. Jesus did not journey into hell to suffer again; he conquered death itself by entering and defeating it.
The Proclamation to the Spirits in Prison
The text most frequently cited to support the belief that Jesus preached in hell is found in 1 Peter 3:18-20: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah.”
Interpreters divide on this passage. One interpretation suggests that between his death and resurrection, Jesus descended into the underworld and proclaimed his victory over the forces of evil–a declaration of triumph rather than an offer of salvation. Others believe that the verse refers to the pre-incarnate Christ preaching repentance through Noah to the unbelieving generation of the flood. Both views agree, however, that Jesus’ message to “the spirits in prison” was not a second chance for salvation but an announcement of his triumph over sin, death, and demonic powers.
This understanding harmonizes with Colossians 2:15, which proclaims that Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” The descent, then, depicts not further humiliation but the extension of victory into the realm of death itself.
What Did Jesus Do Between Death and Resurrection?
The New Testament presents a coherent sequence regarding Jesus’ state between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Upon death, Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, and his spirit entered Paradise. On the cross, he promised the repentant thief, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). This promise demonstrates that Jesus’ spirit went not to the place of the damned but to the blessed realm of the redeemed awaiting resurrection.
Moreover, when he breathed his last, Jesus cried, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), confirming that his soul went immediately to the Father, not to a penal hell. Therefore, Scripture describes death as a separation of body and spirit, not annihilation or spiritual torment. The body lay in the grave; the spirit rested in the care of the Father.
First Peter 4:6 provides additional insight: “For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.” This verse underscores that the saving message of Christ had been proclaimed even to those who died believing in anticipation of the Messiah’s coming. Jesus’ descent, therefore, affirms the continuity of God’s saving purpose throughout history, linking Old Testament faith with New Testament fulfillment.
Why Did Jesus Go to the Realm of the Dead?
The necessity of Jesus’ descent can be understood in terms of redemptive completeness. Humanity’s condition before Christ was one of subjection to death and the grave–under the dominion of sin. Hebrews 2:14-15 explains, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
To redeem humanity fully, Jesus had to enter into the deepest consequences of sin–death itself. His descent, therefore, was not punitive but representative; he passed through death as both substitute and victor. His experience was the cosmic reversal of Adam’s fall. Adam’s disobedience brought death’s dominion (Romans 5:12), but Christ’s obedience brought resurrection life and the destruction of death’s power (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Thus, Jesus’ descent into the realm of the dead was the necessary prelude to his resurrection, the visible declaration that “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“The Keys of Death and Hades”
A final question arises: where does Scripture speak of Jesus taking the keys of hell? In Revelation 1:17-18, the risen Lord declares to John, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
This is an image of authority and triumph. To “hold the keys” in biblical symbolism signifies sovereign power (Isaiah 22:22; Matthew 16:19). Prior to the cross, death appeared to reign unrivaled. But through his sacrificial death and resurrection, Jesus broke death’s dominion. He now possesses authority over life, death, and the grave. This statement fulfills the prophetic promise of Hosea 13:14: “I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting?”
In Revelation’s imagery, Jesus did not wrest the keys from some infernal being in combat; rather, his victorious death and resurrection rendered the grave powerless. The “keys” signify that access to eternal life is now mediated through Christ alone. He reigns as the living Lord who can open or shut the gates of death according to his will.
Clarifying the Misconceptions - Did Jesus Go to Hell for 3 Days?
So where, then, did the idea originate that Jesus “spent three days in hell”? The confusion partly stems from translation history and partly from theological imagination. In older English translations, the word “hell” was used as a catch-all for Sheol and Hades, obscuring distinctions that exist in the original languages. Over centuries, this expression evolved to encompass the modern view of hell as the place of torment for the damned.
Biblically, however, the “three days” between crucifixion and resurrection were spent in death–not in suffering but in victory and rest. Jesus’ cry from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), testifies that his atoning work was complete before he died. There was nothing left to suffer after his final breath.
When Peter and Paul speak of his descent, they affirm his real death and resurrection; they do not suggest further punishment or captivity. As Paul writes, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Jesus’ descent was the means by which resurrection became possible.
The Theological Significance of the Descent
In Christian theology, the descent of Christ demonstrates both solidarity and supremacy. It displays solidarity with the human condition–he, too, entered the grave, affirming the fullness of his humanity. At the same time, it reveals his supremacy: death could not hold him. Acts 2:24 beautifully expresses this truth: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”
Therefore, the phrase “he descended into hell” need not be discarded or feared if rightly understood. It signifies that Jesus truly died, entered the realm of the dead, and defeated death from within. This descent is not the agony of condemnation but the victory of redemption made visible in resurrection glory.
Conclusion
Did Jesus go to hell between his death and resurrection? In the sense of entering the place of eternal punishment and suffering, the answer is clearly no. Scripture offers no evidence that he endured torment after crying “It is finished.” Yet, in the biblical sense of descending to Sheol or Hades–the realm of the dead–he did. He experienced real death, proclaimed the triumph of redemption, and arose with power over death and Hades.
Jesus’ descent assures believers that death is no longer an unconquerable enemy. Because he entered the grave and emerged victorious, the redeemed may echo Paul’s confident confession: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). The keys of death now belong to the risen Lord, and in him, the gates of hell will never prevail against his church (Matthew 16:18-19).
In this sense, the descent of Christ is not a tale of defeat but the very heart of the gospel’s victory–the moment when divine life entered death’s darkness and turned it forever into the doorway of resurrection.